Cats Illustrated's Basketball Stock Report is updated after every Kentucky basketball game.
Here are the latest trends for the Wildcats, considering UK's play in Lubbock but also trends spanning multiple recent games.
| 📈 | Nick Richards. The honors and praise are pouring in for Richards and rightfully so. The All-American candidate is playing like one of the better big men in the Calipari era and that's tough to believe after the way his first and second seasons went. Against Texas Tech he was by far the best player on the court, finishing lobs with style and authority, playing above the rim, controlling the glass, altering and wiping away shots. He's also fouling less. If Richards keeps doing this, Kentucky can win the national championship. |
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📉 | Putting a team away. Kentucky is undoubtedly playing good basketball. Certainly better than the Wildcats were playing for much of the season before the last three weeks or four weeks. But one area where it can improve is when it has a second half lead. Kentucky has sometimes struggled to extend that lead. It ended up costing UK in Columbia, in that loss to South Carolina. UK survived after giving up second half leads against Arkansas and Texas Tech. |
📈 | Road warriors. In spite of the above point about UK struggling to extend leads, the bigger point, and a positive, is that the 'Cats are winning on the road. Kentucky has won big games against two good teams in very hostile arenas the last two Saturdays. This is a more experienced, more veteran team than John Calipari has often had at Kentucky and that could be showing up in these difficult settings. |
📈 | Rebounding. Kentucky had been something between an average and a slightly above average rebounding team until recently. The 'Cats outrebounded Arkansas 47-29 in Fayetteville, it beat UGA on the glass by seven in Lexington, and then it outrebounded Texas Tech by six on Saturday. There are definite signs that Kentucky is improving on the glass. Nick Richards is staying out of foul trouble better than earlier in the year, Keion Brooks has chipped in more on the boards, and it's making UK a better team. |
📉 | Tyrese Maxey. Kentucky has four players it can count on most nights. That's better than a lot of teams have, but if one of them is off, such as Maxey has been at times lately, it means the 'Cats aren't at their best. The freshman guard shot 20-percent from the field against Texas Tech on the heels of a 33-percent shooting game against Georgia. In Lubbock he also had five turnovers. We know that Maxey can come up big on some big stages. But he has to find a role in the offense that he's consistently comfortable with. |
